What Else Haven't You Done?
by Volitan
Summary: My impression on the first meeting between Rhodey and Tony.


**What Else Haven't You Done?**

**Author's Note:**** Hello! Does anyone think that Tony wasn't always the playboy he is now? Does anyone want to see more of the innocent Tony? Well, here's my take on that.**

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**Reading other's work; writing my own style.**

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**I do not mean to step on legal toes,**

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**I hope in my work, enjoyment you will find. **

James Rhodes entered his home-from-home for the next four years, praying to _any_ God who'd listen that his dorm mate was at least tolerable. Opening the door, he discovered that said room mate was standing on an unmade bed (which, seeing as the other was made, Rhodes presumed the one he was standing on was _his_), reaching up and doing _something_ with the fire alarm.

"Woah, maybe leave the re-wiring to the professionals?" Rhodes said, laughing and dropping down his duffels and shrugging off his backpack.

"The Professionals made the mess in the first place, I'm sorting it out." Replied the other guy, returning to what he was doing.

He wasn't that tall, or particularly well built - Rhodes would have put money on the other guy not being particularly sports-orientated. He had dark brown hair _so_ glossy that the last time Rhodes had seen anything like it, it was on a T.V. commercial that included the phrases _'marrowbone jelly'_, _'meaty goodness'_ and _'man's best friend'._

"So, what do they call you?" Rhodes asked, peering up at whatever his dorm mate was doing, it honestly looked like he was attempting to hotwire the alarm.

"Tony. Anthony Edward Stark on Sundays." was the reply, the guy's attention focussed completely on the alarm.

"I'm Rhodes, Rhodey to friends. James Rupert Rhodes - if you want the full title." Rhodes said, offering his hand to shake, and finding himself holding a small pile of snipped-off insulating case from the wires of the alarm, rather than the other guy's hand.

"So, what're you studying, Stark?" Rhodes asked, sitting down on the bed carefully, not to knock him off balance, still holding onto what he'd been handed - not sure whether to throw it away or not.

"I'm doing my masters degree in engineering and robotics, what about you?" he replied, screwing the cover back onto the alarm and sliding down the wall, carefully putting his tools away.

"I'm actually in the Air Force, and they're paying for… whoa! _MASTERS DEGREE_? Seriously? You look to be around the same age as me!" Rhodes cried, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"I'm seventeen, why? I've _already_ graduated with a degree in Engineering and Robotics." Stark said, looking affronted. Rhodes suspected he'd probably been asked about his age frequently. The guy was such a baby face. And those huge, deep brown, puppy-dog eyes weren't helping matters. Stark could really do with some facial hair to make him look a bit less like a fifteen-year-old.

"You've graduated, _already_? Woah. Child prodigy." Rhodes said, still stunned. Stark shrugged and returned his attention back to the alarm.

"So, when did you finish high school?" Rhodes asked.

"I was thirteen. Straight A's, except in gym - but I had brains rather than brawn; but I've been going jogging a lot." Stark muttered, squinting into the alarm and reaching into the back pocket of his oil-stained jeans for a small screwdriver.

"Yeah… wow. Thirteen? What about all those important milestones? You know, like _social milestones_. My sister's training to be a kid's psychiatrist - she's been on and on about social milestones and some other such stuff." Rhodes said, shrugging at the last.

"Like what?" Stark replied, looking confused and terribly young.

"Like… like…" Rhodes trailed off, thinking of something, "What about senior prom - that's a milestone - or so my Mom and sister kept saying."

"Nah, I spent it under one of my Dad's cars, I was fine-tuning the engine." Stark replied, biting a small screw between his front teeth.

"I think I'd have given my right arm to get out of prom - but my Mom insisted - and _nobody_ argues with my Mom." Rhodes laughed.

Stark replaced the screw and quickly had it screwed in. "My Mom was in Milan for some fashion thing. Dad was on business in the capital." His voice sounded as if this was a perfectly normal occurrence; that it was acceptable for a thirteen year old to be left on their own, fiddling with a car's engine.

"Yeah… so, did you do your undergraduate degree here? Where's cool to go to around here?" Rhodes prompted.

"Erm, the labs are pretty amazing, the library is too, oh, and there's this little book shop that sells really nice coffee and sandwiches on…"

"…No, you're not getting it - where's _cool_." Rhodes cut him off.

"The _fridge_?" Stark replied, looking baffled.

"_Not_ what I meant, at all. Where's good for meeting people? _Especially_ girls?"

"Lectures?" Stark replied.

"Meeting girls, as in _meeting_ them."

"_What_?" Stark replied, utterly baffled.

"Would it make more sense if I explained it in binary code, Stark?" Rhodes laughed dryly.

"Yeah, I understand binary."

"Dude… I just had a thought… if you didn't go to prom or any other social norms… what else _haven't_ you done?"

Stark momentarily looked puzzled before replying: "If I haven't done something, how will I know if I haven't done it?"

"Look, Stark, ever had a girlfriend?" Rhodes prompted, grinning.

"No. Who wanted to go out with a thirteen year old? And the girls my age were so dumb." was the simple reply, along with a shrug of Stark's shoulders.

"Ever been kissed by a girl that wasn't your Mom or related to you?" Rhodes asked.

"No." again, another shrug.

"I'd ask if you'd ever done _it_, but I think you might be a lost cause." Rhodes muttered under his breath, watching as Stark moved to his own bed and put his tools away, pulling out a ridiculously thick text book from under his bed.

Above Stark's neatly made bed was an artistic poster of some old car - black with flames down the side; an exploded diagram of some sort of engine; and an AC/DC poster. There was only one photo on the wall - obviously a family photo, with Stark in his gown and mortarboard stood between two adults he bore a resemblance to. Rhodes would put money on it being his parents.

"Stark, _seriously_, we have _got_ to find you a girlfriend. All this learning and no play is bad news! There's more to life than engineering!" Rhodes said, coming up with a plan. Girls liked geniuses, didn't they? Even the geniuses who'd probably be more interested in how a girl's bra was fabricated, rather than what was filling it. Stark struck Rhodes as a guy who'd be more interested in the inner workings of a car, rather than making out in the back seat of it.

"What do I need a girlfriend for?" Stark commented, looking up from what he was reading.

"Dude, if you're _asking_ me that, then it's obvious we've a long way to go. But don't worry, I'll be here to teach you. Not that I'm some man-whore, my Mom and Dad raised me right… but I could give you tips. What do you say?"

"I'm a very fast learner. And I'm going to start learning this semester's work." Was the reply from Stark, not looking up from his book. Rhodes sighed, and moved to begin unpacking.

'This guy's _never_ gonna get laid.' was the first thought that went through Rhodes's head as he pulled a pile of boxers out of his bag and began folding them neatly and putting them away.


End file.
